In search of a better quality of life, fulfilling our dreams to see the world and provide ourselves and young children with invaluable experiences, we sold our home and possessions in London to begin our journey of a lifetime.
Here we will share our tips, stories, successes and failures, not only for our families and friends, but also to assist those who may have similar adventures in mind. We hope also to inspire those who relish the idea of travelling to newer and unfamiliar pastures but do not know how and those who require some evidence it can be done.

Vaccinations

31 December 2010

AS you stand at the elaborate stone-wall castle-style entrance and look at the design of the buildings, with two eagles glaring down on you, a larger one with wings outstretched, and grand statues positioned either side of the path, I couldn’t help thinking I was entering the site of a type of cult.

But I found the owner, shaven-headed father-of-seven Nestor Corsi, to be warm and very welcoming. He is indeed a curious and interesting man, a scientist by trade. Some consider him to be nothing but a quack, while others hold him in high esteem.

Corsi admits that the residents of San Marcos Sierras, a village about 120km north of Cordoba, are roughly equally divided over his and Pozo de Luz’s presence.

While the site (originally a tomato plantation and covering 70,000m sq) has attracted a number of tourists (National Geographic were scheduled to visit a week after we were there), Pozo de Luz certainly sticks out from the natural environment of its surroundings.

At great cost, Corsi is uncovering what he believes to be an energetically powerful site once occupied by an ancient civilization (Arameos) he says no-one really knows anything about (although it is generally thought the Aramaic people were from the region now called the Middle East).

As you stand in the building of Corsi’s office, you can see the huge, circular excavation site 27m below surface level.

In it are four large rings, on which another three will be constructed. There are also tunnels that lead to altars, seven in total.

When the work is completed (by May 2012 according to Corsi), there will stand three pyramids made from quartz rock: one inverted (feminine) with 12 sides, one above it and then a large one over the top.

So what is it all about? Corsi explains that it’s to do with receiving a special baptism, a third eye, and forming a new religion almost.

Corsi adds that it won’t be a religion in the sense of what we already know. “It’s about aligning the spirit with God,” he said.

To receive this knowledge (open to only 144,000 souls), one has to live and work on the land for three days, eat nothing but fruit and vegetables and drink water (to be cleansed in body and mind), while practicing silence.

“These 144,000 people will help all in science with the knowledge they receive once baptised,” he claimed.

One question that crossed my mind was whether the workmen have to endure this initiation process to work there, but Corsi explained, “No, but I must ask [presumably God or the spirit of the land] for permission. Once I didn’t do so and when the man started work, he heard terrible sounds and came running out.”

Make of that what your will, but this is only the beginning of the story. Corsi claims he has known all about this sacred location since he was eight years old. Now 56, he somewhat modestly told us that his birth was predicted by Benjamin Solari Parravicini, who in 1936 wrote a book claiming to know about the future. Corsi compared him with Nostradamus, although Parravicini is more widely recognised as an artist.

“He [Parravicini] called me a prophet,” said Nestor. “He wrote in his book about me, described the shape of my head and certain distinguishing marks on my face.”

Parravicini also apparently describes every detail of Nestor’s work.“I am just the instrument,” said Nestor, explaining how he received instructions through his dreams.

Corsi said he only learned of Parravicini’s writings three years ago, four years after he had started the Pozo de Luz project.

The book, said Corsi, talks about a yellow substance that unites Russia and Argentina.

This, insists Nestor, is the colour of the vaccine he has created (to help with the treatment of cancer and other diseases) and is being developed by the Russian government. He said the Argentine president didn’t want to know when approached in 1998.

Corsi’s scientific work, however - and the selling of lots and homes on the land - is largely what funds Pozo de Luz. Nestor claims to have 160 patents and has had talks with the US government (he showed us the official documents for his visas etc). He has also worked extensively with the Chinese.

The cost of Pozo de Luz hasn’t been calculated, however. What Nestor said is “This is a beautiful mission for me. My work is to unite the rocks and, effectively, the people. Each person who goes through the altar will have their name on a rock in the rings.”

No-one has yet gone through the main and large altar. Only Nestor has been to the entrance, which is blocked by a large volcanic rock.

He showed us photos, which can be viewed on his website, www.pozodeluz.com.ar (plus lots of information).

Corsi described images of angels with wings and chalices and showed us the photos. According to the site, a scientific analysis has said the images, found inside the rocks, could not possibly have been made by man.

Skeptics, though, say many of the rocks that Corsi claims to have unearthed at the site originated from nearby rivers.

09 June 2010

What a ride the last week has been. We arrived back in London after three months of living-up the Ecuadorian lifestyle.

We were of course greeted by masses of grey cloud and cool temperatures (although it soon became gloriously sunny). Seeing the familiar faces of family and friends has been a great reward, though.

Our short time here in London was supposed to help us tie up the loose ends of our upcoming travel for the year. But as happens in life, we have been thrown one curve ball after another.
It has only been in the last day or so that I have been able to relax into the twists and turns that have been appearing.

We set off on Monday on a big road trip. We are driving to a small island off of the Croatian mainland to Claude’s childhood haunt. We’ll be spending all of June there lapping up the salty Adriatic Sea and pumicing our feet on the rocky beaches.

Following Croatia it was our plan to spend July and August in France, but our house-sit there fell through. We were really optimistic at first, as we had applied for another house-sit in Spain and the response seemed positive. But then it appeared as if Spain was going to fall through, too.
We energetically began researching other European rental options only to be slapped in the computer screen with high-end rental prices. After all it is peak season in Europe.

After thinking out of the box, we decided to maybe spend some time in a beachy place in Albania or we had a reply back from a place in Italy that would suit our needs, although more than we ideally would like to spend on a month’s rent.

As this was all playing in our foreground, in the background we have also been working on our plan for after Europe, trying to snap up a good flight deal in the process. We thought we had it all figured out. This was our tentative plan: 2 weeks in Toledo visiting my family, 4 weeks in FL (3 of which I would be doing my Hippocrates programme), 2 weeks in Trinidad with my best friend, 6-months in Brazil, 2 months in Uruguay, 2 months in Argentina and a return to the UK.

It all seemed like such a breeze. But as we began researching how to obtain a Brazilian visa for me, we uncovered a nasty little deterrent. Although Zenchai does not need a visa to enter Brazil (he would use his British passport), all children between 3 mos. and 6 yrs. are required to have a polio vaccination.

For most children this would not be a problem, but we have opted to not vaccinate Zenchai. As this is a very hot topic I’ll leave it at that. So we don’t think there is anyway around this hurdle and therefore would forgo a trip there until he is older.

Back to the foreground. Our Spanish house-sit seems to have revived itself and it is looking very bright. If that does go down the drain then we have ruled out Albania due to not being able to get car insurance coverage there. Instead we will head to Italy.

And for the convenience of our London-based family we might just push our departure date to Toledo forward and thus the rest of the trip begins.
The idea to head to South America is still there, but missing out Brazil could open the possibility of heading to New Zealand, Australia and Asia from Argentina.

Things were feeling in limbo and though everything is still a little unclear, I have settled a bit more. I guess this is all just a part of life on the road.

Watch this space and as our itinerary unfolds we’ll be sure to update it here.